Daytona faithful offer up prayers for Okla. tornado victims

The Daytona Beach Black Clergy Alliance held a community prayer service for the victims and survivors of the Moore, Okla. tornado.

MARK I. JOHNSONSTAFF WRITER

DAYTONA BEACH — Residents offered up prayers and monetary donations for the survivors and victims of the Moore, Okla., tornado during a community prayer service Wednesday afternoon at Tubman-King Community Church. “This is a natural byproduct of the mission of the church here in Daytona Beach,” said the Rev. L. Ronald Durham. He is president of the Daytona Beach Black Clergy Alliance which sponsored the service that attracted about 30 pastors and members of the faithful. While Durham organized the event, he credited the Rev. Monzell Ford, alliance special events coordinator, with the idea. “I saw the need and once you see the need, the first thing you need to do is pray,” Ford said. And pray they did, in word and song. Prayers were offered for the physical, mental and spiritual health of the victims and survivors of Monday's storm that left 24 people dead and about 240 injured. But also for the first responders who came to their aid, the children affected, the government officials who will have to deal with the aftermath and the communities impacted by the disaster. There were also prayers for the families of those who were killed and injured, as well as those who volunteered to lend a hand and victims everywhere. “We know what it is like to lose a resource,” said the Rev. John Long, pastor of Tubman-King who offered up his parish on short notice. He was referring to the aftermath of hurricanes and tornadoes that have hit Central Florida. “We also know what it is not to lose hope.” Long spoke of the survivors who came out of their shelters in Moore to find the room in which the shelter was built gone, along with the house in which the room was a part of gone and as well as the neighborhood where the house once stood gone. Those who attended Wednesday's service offered secular as well as spiritual aid as they collected donations for the American Red Cross to go to the tornado victims. “But for the grace of God,” he said, reminding those in the worship hall they could be where the people of Moore are today.

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